1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and method, and more specifically to a technology for contributing to the achievement of efficient replenishment and replacement of recording media suitable for a print system which is required to produce a large volume of prints at high speed, such as a photographic print service.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, in a minilab system providing a photographic print service, there is a requirement to print narrow, large (L) size prints (127 mm×89 mm) at high speed. In order to satisfy the required print speed, it has been proposed that two rows of narrow-width paper be conveyed and printing be performed onto the respective paper rows simultaneously. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-347653 discloses a system for printing onto two rows of roll paper by means of one shuttle type inkjet head.
In a printer for business use such as a minilab system, it is important that prints are produced at high speed, but it is also important that there is no interruption to print production. One element which may cause an interruption of print production is the replacement of a paper roll (replenishment of paper) when the paper comes to an end. More specifically, in a system having a plurality of paper supply units in order to print a plurality of rows simultaneously, the operations of replacing paper rolls and replenishing paper are required at irregular intervals at the paper supply units, and this places a large burden on the worker (operator) and hence affects the overall working efficiency.